Aircraft gas turbine engines are typically supplied with lubricant from a pump driven lubricant supply system. In particular, the lubrication supply pump, which may be part of an electric motor driven pump assembly having a plurality of pumps on a common shaft, draws lubricant from a lubricant reservoir, and increases the pressure of the lubricant. The lubricant is then delivered, via an appropriate piping circuit, to the engine. The lubricant is directed, via appropriate flow circuits within the engine, to the various engine components that may need lubrication, and is collected in one or more recovery sumps in the engine. One or more of the pump assembly pumps then draws the lubricant that collects in the recovery sumps and returns the lubricant back to the reservoir.
An electric lubrication supply system, such as the one described above, can be an important system in an aircraft depending, for example, on the components to which it is supplying lubricant. Indeed, lubrication supply system reliability can affect overall aircraft operability. As such, it is desirable to monitor and determine the overall health of an aircraft lubrication supply system. In most instances overall system health is determined during an aircraft shutdown period, when the lubrication system is not needed to supply lubricant to one or more components. More specifically, one or more maintenance technicians may run various tests to check system health. These tests, however, may not accurately reflect the overall health of the system, especially during normal system operations with the aircraft in flight, nor may these tests accurately predict health trends of system components or of the overall system.
Hence, there is a need for a system and method that determines the overall health of various systems, including an aircraft lubrication supply system, and that can accurately predict health trends of system components or of the overall system. There is also a need for a system and method that maintains the accuracy of predicted health trends when components within the system are replaced. The present invention addresses at least this need.